


The Mark and The Thief

by titania522



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Drama, Gen, Modern AU, Oneshot, Romance, everlark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-28
Updated: 2014-04-28
Packaged: 2018-01-21 04:53:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1538351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/titania522/pseuds/titania522
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Katniss Everdeen was busy scheming to steal his identity, Peeta Mellark succeeded in stealing her heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mark and The Thief

**Author's Note:**

> In honor of exceeding 400 follows on tumblr and more than 500 reviews and 600 follows for my longest fic, Good Again, I offer this up to thank you all for sticking with me and my stories. A million thanks to plumgal1899 and solasvioletta for waving their beta wands over this fic!

 

**The Mark and the Thief**

 

**My heart is open and I can’t defend it**

**Love is a silent thief…**

**from _Love is a Silent Thief_ by Katie Melua**

 

They walked into the club like a couple of suburban, fresh-off-the-factory-line, All-American jocks, smelling like Wonder Bread and summer pool parties.  They were two solid, middle class young men looking for a good time in the upscale nightclub where other well-heeled managers and investors escaped their postage-stamp housing-developments and hyper-connected lives for a night.  Katniss’ lips curled into a smirk that would have chilled teir privileged little asses because she was on her game tonight.  She’d already cleaned the pockets of a couple of middle-aged investment bankers in another club who thought they were going to score a lay with the 25-year-old and Katniss was ready to hit gold again.

One of the guys was an auburn-haired looker with deep green eyes and a smile that screamed Hollywood – he was just that pretty.  But there was something cocky about him that Katniss knew would wear her out.  He just didn’t capture her attention like his friend, the one she’d decided would be her mark for the evening.  Medium height, stocky build, he had a shock of golden hair that just begged to be played with.  He was handsome also, but in a sweeter way then Pretty Boy.  When she got a glimpse of his eyes, she was shocked to observe how brilliantly blue they were even in the dim light of the club. There was something about him that drew her in, even from this distance and it didn’t hurt that he had a Mercedes symbol on his car keys.

She went to sit at the booth where Gale Hawthorne was sprawled out, throwing back a Coors Light as he, too, checked out the crowd.

“You keep drinking that shit, you’re gonna get a pot belly.” Katniss groused as she watched Gale take another long drag from his icy-cold bottle.

“That’s what my girl at the bar sent over.  I’m not turning down a perfectly good beer,” he said, eyeing a woman of about thirty who was eye-fucking him from the bar, the music pounding in time with her slight swaying on the barstool.   He winked and tipped the bottle at her in acknowledgment.

“If that’s the piss-water she’s buying you, she probably isn’t worth the hit,” Katniss said, slipping the tiny pouch she’d pinched from Gale’s pocket into her clutch purse.

“Yeah, but have you seen the legs on her?  I could tap that,”  he said as he gave her one of his smoky, sexy smiles.  Katniss had to admit, her partner in crime was hot as fuck and got more ass than cash but having spent her whole life hustling with him, he was more like a brother - a very _horny_ brother - than anything else.  They actually dated for about ten minutes in high school but realized they were much better as partners than lovers and it had remained like that ever since.

They grew up on the rough side of the district called The Seam and had been hustling ever since their fathers got shot in a drive-by when they were both eleven.   At that age, they were already helping to keep their respective families from living on the streets through petty theft, small time drug dealing and their latest gig – identity theft.  They’d had a long time to perfect their many little scams and had been joined two years ago by Johanna Mason, the daughter of an oversized family whose father spent more time on unemployment than at any one job site.  She was working a cute but somewhat drunk girl at the far end of the dance-floor and it looked like she was heading for a hook-up as well as the girl’s purse.  

Which left Katniss, as usual, managing the major haul.  She’d hit a club earlier in the evening and scored the fat wallets that Gale had quickly cleaned and swiped.  His real area of expertise was both technical – he made all the computer transactions – and maintaining the connections to whom he sold the Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses and credit cards – entire identities that would replicate themselves somewhere else in the space of twenty-four hours.  His biggest buyer was a shadowy character who only identified himself as Snow, a person none of them had ever met in person.

The cash belonged to whoever did the actual lifting and tonight, Katniss was balling with $500.00, which would go a long way towards paying for her little sister, Prim’s, college textbooks. The trio would make a sweet killing on the credit card fraud and all it took was a little alcohol, a couple of hot dances, maybe even a quick lay if the mark was worth getting sweaty over.  Katniss didn’t often go home with anyone – she was just too paranoid about risking identification when the mark eventually discovered their information had been stolen.  But her hips were good at promising one delight while her deft fingers made off with a person’s entire financial life.

“The blond guy at the far table is my mark tonight,” she said, cocking her head over at the table with the two men, laughing and drinking while they scanned the dance floor of the club.

“Not your usual style,” he said as his eyes flicked between the guy she targeted and the blond woman who had shifted her body to face him.  She not-so-subtly crossed and uncrossed her legs in front of him.  This elicited a low growl that made Katniss want to hurl right there and then.

“He’s got a Mercedes key-chain,” she said, trying not to give the woman an “Are you for real?” look for her perfect lack of artistry. She might as well sit on his face already and get it over with.

“I stand corrected.  That is your style,” he said this after he’d checked out her target.  “Be careful,” he repeated his usual parting advice as Katniss made her way to the bathroom.  At the mirror, she adjusted her appearance – a silver-grey short shift with a low back and her stolen black Balenciaga stiletto sandals that showed off, to good effect, her pedicure and the silver toe ring she’d recently shoplifted.  She also made sure to straighten her wig – an expensive blue-black natural fiber piece with straight hair and bangs that was much longer than her natural hair.

Katniss liked The Capitol Club, though she never visited any one club too many times.  Glass stages were suspended above the main floor where club girls danced, which offered a nice bit of eye candy in the middle of the strobe lights and smoke machines that blew out fog periodically, giving the main dance floor the feeling of an enchanted space where, with enough drinks and the right music, a person could actually be convinced that magic was about to happen.  The deejay, who Katniss knew well, was a local boy by the name of Cato Anderson, who was considered one of the best in town.  She’d been offered a job here in the past by Haymitch Abernathy, the owner, and would have probably taken it but she made much better money doing what she was doing. It paid not only for her and her sister’s college but kept Katniss in a much better financial condition than holding down a slew of part-time waitressing and bartending jobs like her other classmates were forced to do.

She took out the tiny pouch with the white powder and debated on whether to do a line before going out on the floor – it gave her courage when she first worked her mark, which was always the most nerve-wracking part of the process.  But tonight, she had a feeling she needed to keep her wits about her and having made two big scores gave her more confidence than usual.  She squeezed the baggie into the seam pocket she’d made at the bottom of her clutch for coke and pills. Katniss didn’t deal anymore ever since she turned eighteen – she didn’t want a felony drug charge on her record – but she always took precautions nonetheless when she carried the stuff around.

After making sure everything was in place, Katniss left the restroom and walked in the direction of where her blondie sat, surveying the best circumstance under which to make her move.  She watched him for several minutes until he finally excused himself and made his way across the dance floor towards the men’s bathroom.  She was satisfied with her choice – he wore jeans that hung loosely from his hips and a dark blue button down shirt that hugged his chest and arms in just the right way for her to appreciate his toned body.  As he walked unsuspectingly past her, she took in the way his leg muscles strained against his jeans and the bump of his tight, round ass that seemed to beg to be squeezed.  Hovering near the bathroom exit, she danced distractedly, only half listening to the pumping music as she let her mind drift back to his bubble butt long after it was necessary to do so.

Katniss caught herself licking her lips and gave a quick jerk of her head.  She had allowed herself to lose focus and did not like the feeling.  By the time she realized what she had done, he’d already gone past her in the direction of the table and she cursed herself for not moving earlier.  In an attempt to recover, she slipped quickly to the outer edge of the cavorting bodies until she was positioned directly in front of him.  With a deft set of her foot, she bit her lip and waited for his foot to come down on her.

“Ow!” she yelped, pulling her bruised toe out from under his shoe.

“Oh, wow, I’m so sorry!” he said, balancing beers and shots and apologizing profusely to Katniss.  Having successfully caught his attention, she placed her hand on his bicep to “support” herself as she examined the injured foot, a sudden bolt of energy exploding at the place where her hand met his shirt sleeve.

“It’s okay,” she said, giving him a winning, if pained smile, though whether it was for her foot or the hard muscle beneath her fingers, she was not sure.  “Luckily I have another one,” she quipped as she poked her foot, and by extension, her slender, muscular leg out in front of him, drawing his attention to the injury.

The young man blushed at the site of the shapely limb and fumbled his response.  “I…ah…yeah, and it works, too. “ Katniss was captivated by the way the flush spread across his cheeks and had to resist the urge to reach out and run her fingers across the heated skin.  They stood staring each other for a beat too long before both became aware that something needed to be said.

“Gosh, I’m so rude!  I’m Peeta.  What’s your name?” he said, juggling two beers and two shots in an attempt to shake her hand but managing only to offer her his elbow.

“Kat!” she shouted as the music began to pulse loudly.  She laughed as she shook his elbow before grabbing the beers out of his hand. “Come on, I’ll help you.”

His eyes brightened as she followed him to the table where his friend sat.  Pretty Boy stared wide-eyed at Katniss as Peeta introduced him. His friend was actually called Finnick and literally undressed her with his eyes. She shook his hand in acknowledgement, despite the virtually panting look he gave her.  Peeta promptly pulled a chair to the table and passed Katniss his beer.

“No!” she said.  “I can’t take your beer!”

Peeta leaned in close to her so she could hear him. “Yes, you can.  To make up for your mangled foot.”

Katniss laughed again – she never laughed this much and she felt almost idiotic.  “Then at least share it with me.”  She tipped her head back and poured a bit of the beer into her mouth without touching her lips to the bottle. When she put it back down, both Peeta and Finnick were staring at her.  “What?” she demanded

“Uh, nothing,” said Peeta quickly before clearing his throat.

“So are you here with anyone?” said Finnick, leaning in on her other side.  Katniss had been right – this one was drop-dead gorgeous but he was also way inside of her personal space and something about him trying to talk to her when Peeta had clearly been the one to bring her over to the table irked the hell out of her.

“Yeah, my cousin but he's off doing his own thing.”  She smiled again, leaning away from him. Turning resolutely towards Peeta, she asked, “Do you live around here?”

Peeta dragged his eyes over her face, resting surreptitiously on her lips before focusing on her question.  “I do.  About fifteen minutes from here in Merchant Center.”

Katniss frowned a bit.  “Those are the new developments out west?”

Peeta nodded. “Yeah, it’s near enough to the downtown where both of our families have their businesses.” he indicated to Finnick, who was only half-following our conversation now.  Merchant Center was a nicer part of town but still squarely middle-class. Katniss began to wonder if she’d chosen her mark properly.  “How about you?” he asked.

“Probably way on the other side of you but it’s not far from here either,” Katniss responded vaguely.  She never gave real information about herself, even though at the moment, she was having a hard time digging up the lies she needed to tell to protect herself. There was something in his eyes that made her want to tell him everything.  “You mentioned your family business?”

Here, Finnick perked up.  “He comes from a long and noble line of bakers.” at which Peeta chuckled, the sound warming Katniss right down to her toes.  “Whereas my dad is a doctor and has his own practice in town.  But I still deign to go around with this plebeian.”  He indicated Peeta with his head.

Katniss was in a crisis now.  Pretty Boy was probably loaded but she’d chosen a baker as her target.  This was not good at all.  It would be so easy to change her attention, shift her focus, especially in light of the fact that Finnick was just looking for a little encouragement to make a move.  And yet, when she looked from his undeniably gorgeous face to Peeta’s fathomless eyes, the gentle way he had of flagging down the elusive waitress and asking for refills, his obvious chivalry, she knew she would not be able to snub him in that way.  This, of course, was completely ironic because she knew what her agenda was with him and the greatest kindness she could do for him would be to actually shift her attention to Finnick. But she found she was too captivated by Peeta to do so.

Their conversation continued, ranging from one topic to another so fluidly, she forgot that she should try to get Peeta up and dancing, forgot all about Finnick, forgot that they were in a club unless forced to speak loudly over the music, forgot the very reason she was there in the first place.  Soon Finnick got the hint and became occupied with another table where there was more noise and a few people he knew.

“I paint in my free time.  I even took a few classes but I think I’m not really very good,” he explained.

“Why do you doubt yourself?” Katniss said sincerely. “You strike me as the type of person who’s good at anything he tries.”

Peeta blushed again at her words and this habit of flushed cheeks and shyness was completely undoing her. “I could show you some of my drawings.  I’m actually pretty good at doing sketches from memory.”

“I’d love that.” She was rewarded with a smile that lit up his twinkling blue eyes and Katniss realized she was in danger.  He was sweet and funny.  He’d come from a hard-working family and showed himself to be capable of great qualities that she generally respected in people – kindness, humility and a strong sense of fairness, among them.    And she genuinely liked him. This irritated her as well because she knew she wouldn’t be able to do what she had to do if she went around liking the people she would eventually steal from.  It was time to extricate herself from this situation and go home to her sister.

“Would you like to dance?” Katniss asked instead, staring down at those large baker’s hands, imagining what those same hands would feel like on her body.  Peeta stood in response and held his hand out to her.

Katniss couldn’t help but laugh at Peeta’s complete inability to hold onto a beat.  “You’re a mess!” she laughed as he did some version of the Sprinkler, which just made her laugh even harder.  He was silly and playful and completely unconcerned with the way he looked to others.  He was positively fearless about the risk of looking like a fool.  Soon, the music transitioned into something more romantic and they both swayed gently to the rhythm.  Peeta’s wonderful large hand rested against her bare back, the skin quivering beneath his callouses.  She leaned her head onto his shoulder and reveled in the feel of his chest against her cheek, the heat that radiated from him through his shirt.

As they rocked slowly to the song, Peeta whispered into her ear, “I like you and I want to see you again.” Katniss leaned back slowly, her heart clenching in both excitement and anxiety.  She could get lost in those eyes, completely caught up in his kindness and laughter.  He was like warm, streaming sunlight and she could bathe in it indefinitely.  Neither of them were drunk – they’d barely had two beers the entire time they were talking so Katniss could not blame the alcohol. But Prim was growing like a weed – tall and beautiful.  In consequence, she would soon need new clothes and Katniss was close to having earned enough to cover those expenses.  There were books and meal plans and tuition payments to consider also and if there was anything left over, Katniss might be able to pay for another class in her painstaking journey towards her own college degree. Katniss hardened her heart. It was too late to choose another mark.  The time had come to save them both from further heartache.

“Me too,” said Katniss with true sincerity, giving him a squeeze that felt more like “good bye” to her and then stepped back out of his perfect embrace.  Smiling up at him, she said “I have to go to the ladies room.  I’ll be right back.”  Perhaps sensing something in the air, he nodded slowly and, without warning, pulled her back into his arms and placed a gentle kiss on her lips – a small peck that promised more if she allowed herself to take it.   His mouth was slightly chapped but soft and the smell of him was unmistakable – now that she knew he was a baker, did she smell cinnamon and vanilla on his skin?  When he pulled back, Katniss was dazed, her eyes smoldering with a heat that his eyes seemed to reflect.  With a sad smile, Katniss turned and walked the infinite distance to the restroom.  Dejection took over each of her steps the further she got from him until finally, instead of turning into the restroom area, she veered toward the back service door and slipped out miserably like a ghost in the night into the cramped, lonely alley.

**XXXXX**

She went directly to Gale’s as was her habit.  He lived in the basement of his mother’s house, which had an independent entrance from the rest of the building.  Gale was ready to move out on his own but his mother was still raising his little sister, Posy, and his younger brother Rory hadn’t finished school yet.  Like Katniss, Gale was determined to make sure that his siblings did not lack for anything.  He would move out only when he thought they could be independent without him.  As Katniss moved down the stairs of the basement apartment, she glimpsed a small light through the curtain.  She peeked in and saw movement so she rapped on the door.  After an interminable moment, Gale appeared, his hair disheveled, shirt obviously thrown on without an attempt to button it up.  There was further shuffling inside the apartment and soon, Katniss understood what was happening.

“You’re not alone?” she asked sarcastically.

“No, not really.  So, you got something for me?”  he responded impatiently.

Katniss could feel Peeta’s wallet in her clutch, heavy and full and her heart plummeted down into her stomach.  Judging from the look of things with Gale, he would probably not be getting to it tonight anyway.  Just as she had almost decided to hand it over to him, she shook her head curtly.

“No, nothing.  Third time was not a charm tonight,” she quipped, hoping her nervousness was not evident in her voice.

“Oh, well, okay,” said Gale with some confusion, looking impatiently back into the apartment.  “Thanks.  We’ll talk tomorrow?” he said, already closing the door on her.

“Yeah.  Tomorrow,” she said the last word to a shut door.

**XXXXX**

Katniss stared at the wallet on her bed.  It was a classic leather trifold wallet, somewhat worn but of an excellent quality.  She thought about its owner and the ridiculously easy way he had of making her smile, his manners, and sweetness…and he was hot, so hot she could feel her body react to the mere memory of their dance together.

No one like her could ever get with a guy like him.  She barely graduated high school and had a juvie record a mile long that, thank god, had been sealed when she turned eighteen.  She was 25 and still a junior at the state college because she barely completed two courses each semester.  And now, she was practically a felony grifter just trying to keep from getting caught long enough to get her little sister through her last year of college.  Who would want to get mixed up with that?

But there was the matter of the wallet and the young man who did not deserve to worry about it – did not deserve the bad credit ratings, the fraudulent purchases, the headaches that came with having your entire life duplicated and lived alongside yours.  She needed the money - there was no doubt. But not at his expense.  It was one of those moments where she was sick and tired of what she did and wished she could quit right then and there.  However, for now, the wrong of taking Peeta’s wallet was at least something she could set right.

It was already mid-morning on Sunday and unless he was a church-going guy, he should still be home.  She brushed out her natural hair and braided it, putting on a touch of makeup, just enough to look polished without being overdone.  She found her brand-new yoga pants and her favorite green Nike sports shirt with a v-neck that made her look pretty even when she was sweating.  She’d probably have to go for a run after this errand but it was worth it to set her conscience straight.

She gave the cab driver the address on the driver’s license and listened to her IPOD as they traveled the fifteen minutes required to get to his place.  It was in a nice part of town – newly built apartments at the edge of a large park where young families were already sitting in the grass amongst the trees.  Katniss smiled at it – the parks in her neighborhood had always been glass- and beer-can infested monuments of urban decay, places she would never have let her sister play by herself.   It was appropriate that such a lovely person would also live in the middle of such a beautiful setting.

Katniss climbed the steps of his apartment and paused.  She really wanted to knock on the door, if only to speak to him again, to see him one more time, but then she thought through the scenario.  She’d left him waiting and coincidentally, his wallet disappears. There was no way that he hadn’t see the connection.  She was lucky if he didn’t call the police.

So, with the wallet in hand, she raised her hand to knock and then run so he would not see her leaving it at his doorstep.  However, just as she went to rap on the door, it opened suddenly beneath her fist.  Katniss body felt like it had been charged with a thousand bolts of electricity as she looked her mark squarely in the face, fist ready to pound, wallet conspicuously on display.  His eyes were like lasers that bore into her.  It took a moment for him to take in her face and recognition washed over his features before he turned to stone.

“Kat?” he asked incredulously.

“P-Peeta.” She stuttered. “I-ah…”

He crossed his arms, staring down at her, an expression of disbelief crossing his features.  “That wouldn’t be my wallet you have there, would it?”

Katniss’ hand began to shake as she offered the offending artifact to its proper owner.  She nodded as he took the wallet from her.  “I…yeah, I, ah…fuck!” she spat angrily at herself.  “I’m sorry. I stole your wallet.”

Peeta was visibly taken aback by her admission and stood stunned for a moment before speech found him again.  “Okay.  If you wanted my number that badly, you could have just asked.”

She smiled despite herself, shaking her head.  “Maybe it’s because I wanted your number that I brought it back.”

Peeta nodded at this before stepping aside.  “Want to come inside?” he asked.

“Okay, but it looked like you were on your way out,” she said as she stepped through the doorway.

“I was on my way to the police station to report my wallet missing.  Seems you saved me a trip.” He said as he closed the door behind her.

“You could still report me, if you wanted to,” she said quietly, taking in the apartment. It was remarkably neat for a single man’s place.  The bay windows in the living room overlooked the park.  The kitchen was ultra-modern with stainless steel appliances and a granite countertop.  She deduced from the corridor that it was a two-bedroom apartment but it was nothing like the cookie-cutter government apartments she was used to living in.

"I could and I might still but I have a funny feeling there is a great story behind this and I, for one, love a good tale.  Have you had breakfast yet?"  He went to the kitchen to pull out cups.

"Breakfast?" she said in confusion.  She'd just admitted to stealing his wallet and he was offering her breakfast?

"Yeah.  Breakfast.  I haven't eaten yet and now that I have my wallet back, I’ve suddenly found my appetite too.  Bacon, eggs and toast good for you?"

Katniss' guilt multiplied ten times and would not allow her to accept his offer unequivocally.  "Not unless I can help."  She made her way over to the kitchen where he was working.

"Fair enough." he said as he bent to pull out a pair of frying pans.  "Probably best to keep my eye on you."

She whisked the eggs while he made the coffee and unstuck the bacon strips.  "So, why my wallet?" he asked as he turned on the burner.

Katniss, whose nerves were somewhere in her throat, did her best to answer without choking.  "It's what I do.  I'm a thief.  I have a sister I'm trying to get through school and it is one of the best ways of earning an income."  This was professional suicide - telling a perfect stranger that she was a career criminal but every fiber in her being trusted him without knowing how or why.

Peeta paused from frying bacon to look over at her.  "Where are your parents?"

Katniss took a ragged breath before she answered.  "My father died in a shooting when I was eleven.  He was just a bystander but he caught a bullet anyway.  My mother never really got over his death so she spends most of her time at home, just going from one depressive episode to the next.  I didn’t have too many options," she ended somewhat defensively.

Peeta had since stopped frying the bacon to stare at her.  "I'm not judging you.  I told you last night, I want to get to know you.  That hasn't changed because you happen to lift wallets for a living."

Katniss brought her clear grey eyes, glassy now with emotion, up to his.  "Still?"

Peeta walked to stand directly in front of her.  His gentle eyes scanned her features before he brought his hand up to move a wayward strand of hair off of her forehead.  "What you do is not who you are.  You did a very daring thing coming here to return my wallet.  I could have judged you, insulted you or even turned you in.  And yet you risked all that.  I don't care what you had to do to survive, I think it takes a lot of guts to do what you did."

Katniss trembled.  She'd never, ever seen herself like that before and she liked it - liked the idea that everything she'd done was not a result of a weakness of character or low worth but because she was strong.  "Thank you."

Peeta shrugged before turning back to the range to finish frying the bacon and eggs.  With some direction from Peeta, Katniss set plates out on the island in the middle of the kitchen while he served their meal.  In a flash, he had also sliced and salted tomatoes and whipped butter with cinnamon for the toast.

Katniss ate in self-conscious silence, savoring the warm food.   It was nice to be taken care of for once and thought she could get addicted to this.  But there was a voice inside her that insisted she not get to used to this.  She simply couldn’t trust that he would actually overlook what she did for a living to consider offering her anything beyond this breakfast.

When they had completed their meal and were sipping their coffee, Peeta finally broke the silence.  “How long do you plan on remaining in your current profession.”

Katniss smiled at his way with words.  “Until Prim - that’s my sister - graduates from college.  She’s only got another year.  Then I’ll just find something to take care of me until I get my classes done.”

Peeta’s brow furrowed momentarily.  “You’re in school too?”

She nodded.  “Yeah. State school.  I don’t always have the money to pay for both of our classes.”  She suddenly gathered the dishes from the table.  “I’ll wash up since you cooked.”

“We’ll both wash up,” Peeta said, a pained, unreadable expression on his face.  They made quick work of the dishes and soon stood awkwardly in his kitchen, the air charged with an unnamed energy that confused Katniss and made thinking difficult.

“I think maybe I should go,” she said, cocking her head towards the door.  Peeta continued to look at her in that strange way and it made her insides melt together.

“Don’t,” he said simply.

“Don’t what?” asked Katniss, genuinely confused.

“Don’t run off.  I don’t even know your real name or where you live or anything,” he said.

Katniss shook her head.  “I would have thought you would be happy to see me go.”

Peeta took her hand and held it in his hand.  “I repeat.  I like you.  I want to spend time with you.  Why does that surprise you?”

He pulled her close to him and kissed her as gently as he had last night.  This time, however, Katniss returned his kiss with more insistence and soon his arms were pulling her flush against his body, her hands carding into his hair. Her body melted into his as their mouths plundered one another. This had not been what she’d expected when she came to bring him his wallet but now that she was here, there was a budding joy in her body swelling to reach her every extremity.  He knew what few others knew and he still wanted her.  He pulled back quickly, stopping her kisses.

“Wait, wait!” he gasped.  “What’s your real name?”

“Katniss. Katniss Everdeen.  I live in the Seam, on the South Side,”  she laughed.

Peeta reached out to tug on her braid, unraveling it and running his fingers through her thick, dark hair.  “And this, I assume, is your real hair.”

The feel of his fingers running through her hair made her weak in the knees. “Yes.” Katniss nodded.  “All of it.”

“I like this much better,” he said as he spread her hair out across her shoulders.  He kissed her again with unmistakable need. Katniss brought her hands up to run them under his t-shirt, eliciting a moan of pleasure from him as her hands skated across his skin.  She pulled his shirt over his head and hungrily kissed his neck and shoulders.  Her lips made their way across his broad chest, sucking on his nipples while he balled her hair up in a fist, panting under her attack.  She brought her lips back up to his as his hands ran down her back to grasp her ass in both his hands, lifting her to grind against his hard cock.  

Katniss felt reckless and free, such a contrast to the methodical, calculated way she generally lived her life.  A voice advised her to slow down and take it easy, to think through the ramifications of what she was doing but she pushed that voice down.  This was one of only a handful of times in her life when she was stealing something only for herself and she wanted it in a passionate way.  

Soon, their clothes were strewn across the corridor as Peeta backed Katniss into his bedroom.  She stopped moving only when the back of her now bare legs hit his bed, upon which Peeta gently pushed her.  He stared down at her naked body, open to him.  Katniss fought the urge to cover the swell of her breasts or close her legs to hide her moist core but she allowed him the pleasure of looking at her, her heart racing under his scrutiny.  He unconsciously stroked his cock and bit his lip as he studied her from head to foot.

“Do you know what I was thinking when we were sharing my beer last night?” he said as he looked at her.

Katniss was beyond words and simply shook her head.  

“I was wondering what else that mouth could do,” he said with half hooded eyes as he crawled up her body, leaving hot kisses along her hips, stomach and breasts, sucking on her dusky nipples, making them stand at attention.

“If you behave, I might show you,” she purred as she pushed her breasts into his mouth.  She moaned as his hands pushed her legs open so he could run his fingers in her wet folds.  He rubbed her clit before dipping into her wet core, his fingers following the same rhythm as his mouth on her nipples.  He soon pushed both fingers inside of her while, with the heel of his hand, he rubbed her in circles until she felt herself climbing.  

“Peeta, god, I’m coming!” she moaned as she arched her back, exploding all over his hand.  He sat up on his haunches, dipping his head between her legs to lap at her wetness.

“Have I behaved so far?” he asked.  Unable to formulate words, Katniss simply mumbled her assent, eliciting a chuckle from him.  Suddenly, he was on his back and Katniss was over him, her wet core hovering over his face while his cock rubbed against her cheek, his intention clear to her.  Wasting no time, he was inside of her, drawing designs on her folds with his wicked tongue. Katniss couldn’t resist and ground her hips onto him, vaguely wondering if it was possible to suffocate a person this way.  

Meanwhile, his cock jerked impatiently against her so she took hold of it, her hand running up and down its length, eliciting a moan from Peeta that reverberated through her core all the way up her belly.  She kissed the tip, lapping at the droopy eye before running along his length with the flat side of her tongue.  She bathed it in saliva as she covered the tip and sucked on it, slowly taking his entire length in her mouth and pulling back up again. She repeated this, taking him in deeper until she was able to take his entire length in her throat.

“Katniss, ugh…” he groaned.  She continued to take him in as he thrust his hips upwards. He trapped her by wrapping his arm around her waist to hold her gyrating hips still.  As he sucked on her clit, he invaded her with his fingers, his thumb rubbing the tender rim of her anus.  She felt the bundle of nerves inside of her bunch and coil and with little consideration for Peeta’s face, she ground down in an effort to find relief until she came, this time her every limb shaking.  Pushing her gently off of him, he positioned himself between her legs.  He reached over to his bedside table, carefully removing a condom from the foil and deftly putting it on.  Hovering over her, he kissed her lingeringly, filling her mouth with her own taste before sheathing himself in her, a long groan escaping his lips.

“Peeta!” she screamed with his every thrust.  “Don’t stop!” she prodded him to go deeper, sweat breaking out over his body.  She finally grabbed his ass with both hands and pulled him into her, writhing beneath him as she bit his chin.

“Damn, you’re so fucking hot!”  he gasped as he tried to keep up with her.  When she came around him, the fluttering of her muscles drew out his orgasm until he came with a kind of fury.  

Katniss lay disoriented under his weight, her breathing slowly returning to normal. Peeta shifted carefully to her side, gathering her up to him.  He didn’t speak right away, just stroking her skin as they both returned to earth. After a long while had passed Peeta shifted to look down at Katniss.  

“So what does a guy have to do to keep a thief from running away in the night?” He was flippant but there was a vulnerability in his words that touched Katniss’ soul.

She snuggled into his side, already determined that his wallet was the last thing she would ever steal.  “You’ve already done it.”

He lifted himself onto his elbow to better look at her.  “I have?” he said, a touch of confusion marring his features.

“Yes, the best way to keep a thief from running...is to steal something of hers.”

“Yeah?  Like what?” he grinned, raising his hand to sweep a wayward clump of hair from her face.

“Her heart.” Katniss said softly.

**  
  
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